Acceptable registrations in the queue through March 16 at 11:00a ET have now been activated. Enjoy! -M.W.

Terms of Use have been amended effective October 6, 2019. Make sure you are aware of the new rules! Please visit this thread for details: https://www.mibuzzboard.com/phpBB3/view ... 16&t=48619

West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Discussion pertaining to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, and Michiana
User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11872
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Jul 23, 2022 6:56 pm

I took a day trip through the area today to visit family and figured I would shared with the Buzzboard readership some observations:

WLHT & WGRD: Is technical maintenance of some kind being performed? WGRD appears to be operating at reduced power and its audio sounds muddy. WGRD's RDS simply displayed "WGRD-FM" all day. WLHT, meanwhile, is at full strength but has some noticeable distortion in its audio chain.

WLAV: Holy shit. Please fix your fatiguing audio!!! I don't know if it's ever sound worse. Mid range is turned down as low as it can possibly go and upper-end treble is turned damn as high as it can possibly go. Someone at the station apparently loves the sound of cymbals.

99.9 Smile FM: I'm impressed at the coverage of the upgraded facilities, now pumping out 220 watts ERP as compared to the previous 10 watts. Signal carries much farther eastward than any of the other Grand Rapids-based translators. Signal came in clear as a bell as far east as the Saranac / Clarksville exit and didn't start to break up until I reached the Lake Odessa rest area.

Big 101.3: Actually heard a sung jingle while channel surfing! Very nice touch. Processing sounds excellent. Would be nice to hear one or two folks from the former Real Oldies 1480 on this station.

WSNX: Does iFart have some sort of corporate edict to use super sped-up versions of songs on all of its CHRs? I thought 95.5 was bad in that regard, but holy crap, WSNX is definitely worse. Underwhelmed by this station today, but hey, its ratings are definitely nothing to sneeze at.

105.3 Hot FM: Thanks, Cumulus, for alternating the RDS captions so that I no longer have to look at a continuous plug for the morning show. The ALL CAPS thing still annoys me, though. Music wise, the station sounds better than it has in some time. They are mixing two or three "throwback" hits into the playlist each hour today as part of a weekend promotion. Heard Dave Fuller (of Detroit radio fame) via voicetracking on 105.3 late this morning; that was both a surprise and a treat. Processing sounds better than 104.5 these days; that's saying something.

Star 105.7: Another victim of playing music faster than the artist intended; the settings aren't quite as obnoxious on 105.7 as 104.5 to my ears.

106.1 The Ticket: Why does this crappy little station even exist?



User avatar
48125er
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 5:50 pm

Re: West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Post by 48125er » Sat Jul 23, 2022 10:45 pm

I think GRD is operating at lower power, cause I went to Indiana last week, I couldn't get it past the D Rd exit south of Plainwell

I think the former short lived Funny 1410 had more listeners than 106.1 likely does.

I cant stand how SNX is nowadays it sounds like every song is being remixed by DJ Nephets on 92.3 in Chicago.

I wonder if 93.9 or 103.5 in Chicago is sped up like 105.7 and 104.5 are



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11872
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:14 pm

When I was traveling inbound (toward GR) on I-96, I couldn't get 97.9 to lock in on seek mode until I was within a couple miles of the Kent / Ionia line. That's less than 20 miles from their tower.

Heading back to Metro Detroit, it performed better, but still lost the signal a good 10 miles sooner than usual.



ChrisWL1980
Posts: 813
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:36 am

Re: West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Sun Jul 24, 2022 3:31 pm

101.3 has also sped up its music in the past. I take it that's no longer the case? Sped-up music sounds ridiculous on an AC (and Madonna circa 1985 was already sped up to the point where she sounded like Minnie Mouse), but even more so on an Oldies/Classic Hits station.
Last edited by ChrisWL1980 on Sun Jul 24, 2022 6:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11872
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Post by MWmetalhead » Sun Jul 24, 2022 5:29 pm

I didn't listen long enough to notice. The audio sounded rich and dynamic to my ears. I liked how it sounded.



User avatar
teetoppz28
Posts: 796
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2019 5:01 pm

Re: West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Post by teetoppz28 » Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:57 am

MWmetalhead wrote:
Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:14 pm
When I was traveling inbound (toward GR) on I-96, I couldn't get 97.9 to lock in on seek mode until I was within a couple miles of the Kent / Ionia line. That's less than 20 miles from their tower.

Heading back to Metro Detroit, it performed better, but still lost the signal a good 10 miles sooner than usual.
I drove through Greenville eastbound on Thursday and lost GRD in the middle of town. I usually can tune in until about Carson City or so...


Dropping knowledge on forum MAGAts.
Unapologetically intellectually superior.

User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11872
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Post by MWmetalhead » Mon Jul 25, 2022 4:59 pm

They're definitely broadcasting at greatly reduced power then.

Transmitter must be on the skids.



User avatar
teetoppz28
Posts: 796
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2019 5:01 pm

Re: West Michigan Radio Observations from 7/23/22

Post by teetoppz28 » Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:54 am

Made my weekly trek on M-57 across MI yesterday and was able to pick up GRD all the way to Carson City again. Looks (sounds?) like it's fixed now!


Dropping knowledge on forum MAGAts.
Unapologetically intellectually superior.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic